Hermetically sealed package and closure therefor



Dec. 24, 1957 H. E. STOVER 2,817,453

HERMETICALLY SEALED PACKAGE AND CLosURE THEREFOR Filed oct. 27, 1954 INVENTOR VZMMHLMA ATTORNEY United ttes HERMETICALLY SEALED PACKAGE AND CLOSURE THEREFOR Harry E. Stover, Lancaster, Ohio, assigner to Anchor Hocking Glass Corporation, Lancaster, hio, a corporation of Delaware Application October 27, 1954, Serial No. 465,027

6 Claims. (Cl. 215-31) The present invention relates to the sealing art and particularly to a closure for making a hermetic seal on a glass container.

More particularly the invention is an improvement upon the closure of the Harold L. Crabtree Patent No. 2,772,012, issued November 27, 1956, and this application is a continuation-in-part of the inventors co-pending application Serial No. 397,878, tiled in the United States Patent Ofice on December 14, 1953 now Patent No. 2,772,013. Both of the above patents are owned by the assignee of the present invention.

The improved closure of the present invention has a greater holding power than previous closures and thus remains more firmly seated during shipment and handling. ln addition, the closure is easier to apply and is also more easily removed by the ultimate user of the container.

After being initially removed by the consumer, the closure of the present invention is more easily re-applied so that the container may be resealed for storage purposes where the container has not been completely emptied. This is an important feature of the closure of the present invention, as known or suggested types of closures once removed from the container are either deformed too much to allow them to be conveniently reapplied or the gasket material is too stili to allow reapplication of the closure with reasonable pressure.

The closures of the present invention nest into one another when stacked in sealing machines and they are thus capable of use with simple, rapid feeder devices applicable to stacked closures. The closures may also be fed by means of hoppers, if desired.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved closure which. will form a secure hermetic seal.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a secure hermetic seal with a high blow-off pressure.

Another object of the invention is to provide a hermetically sealed closure which may be readily removed from a container.

Another object of the invention is to provide a hermetically sealed closure which may be easily used to reseal the container during consumption of the product.

Another object of the invention is to provide a closure which may be readily stacked in a sealing machine to facilitate feeding the closures for application to containers and which may also be fed to sealing machines by suitable hoppers.

Other and further objects of the invention will be ob- Vious upon an understanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described, or will be indicated in the appended claims, and various advantages not referred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employment of the invention in practice.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been chosen for purposes of illustration and description and is shown in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the specification wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side View partially in section of a closure illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of a portion of the closure shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of a portion of the closure and preferred container finish with the closure sealed on the container;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional View of a portion of the closure and a modified container finish with the closure sealed on the container;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of a modied form of the closure;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view illustrating another embodiment of the invention; and

Fig. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary View of a sealed container showing the preferred embodiment of glass finish for sealing the closure of Fig. 6.

Referring again to the drawing and more particularly to Figs. l and 2 thereof illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention, there is shown a closure cap having a cover portion 1, and a depending skirt 2 formed from sheet metal, and a sealing gasket 3 bonded thereto.

The cover portion 1 is preferably provided with an annular peripheral channel 4 adjoining the top of the skirt of the cap provided by depressing the center part, as shown at 5. The skirt 2 in the preferred embodiment is flared outwardly with the edge turned in at 6 to envelop the lower edge of the gasket 3.

The gasket preferably comprises a very thin center portion 7 providing a skin-like covering for the underside of the depressed panel 5 of the cover and a thicker portion at 8 lling the peripheral channel 4 and having its lower surface flush with the surface of the gasket under the depressed panel. The portion of the gasket covering the skirt is preferably thicker at its upper part, as shown at 9, with an annular groove 10 formed therein. If desired, venting channels may be provided in the thick portion 9 as shown in my prior application S. N. 397,878. Preferably the annular groove is spaced below the sealing surface 11 of the gasket on the underside of the cover. The portion of the gasket below the thickened portion 9 is thinned out for the remainder of the skirt as it does not engage the sealing surface of the container. The lower edge of the cap 6 is turned upwardly to envelop and enclose the lower edge of the gasket.

While the closure may be applied to different types of containers and to different glass finishes thereon, preferably the closure is applied to a container having an enlargement or bead adjacent its upper rim.

Figs. 3 and 4 show two different containers with different linishes on which the closure is applied.. The contaner `1d shown in Fig. 3 has a raised portion 12 on its rim which improves the top seal at thicker portion 8 of the closure, and a peripheral bead or enlargement 15 adjacent to its rim. An annular groove 16 extends below the bead 15 on the finish, leading to the lowerI part 17 of the finish which has substantially the same outer diameter as bead 1S.

When the closure is applied to the finish of Fig. 3, the

aait/,45a

annular groove l@ embraces the bead with the lower portion 9 of the gasket below the groove fitting under the bead l5 and into the groove 16. The depth of groove i6 determines the distance which the portion 9 of the gasket may project inwardly. By having the groove relatively shallow, the enlarged portion of the gasket is prevented from extending too far under the bead SiS and thus prevents too much of an interlock between the bead and the gasket, thereby facilitating removal.

The container t8 shownrin Fig. thas a'peripheral bead or enlargement 19 on its rim which engages groove lil. T he thickened portion 9 of the gasket bulges inwardly around the lower surface of bead 19 to hold the closure Y in place on 'the container.

The aring or frusto-conical shape of-theskirt ofthe closure together with thegrooved gasketcornbine to provide a closure which has ahigh holding or blow-off pressure and which at thesametime is readily applied, rev moved and re-applied.

-As noted-above, theifiaring skirts allow the closures to nest when stacked in the sealing machines. This allows the closure to be easily handled and to be thus bet ter adapted to'automatic sealing in -those machineswhich feed from a stack of closures. In addition the closures may be used in `hopper-fed sealing machines. -The shape of the skirt permits the closures to readily slide` oft each other.

rlhe flared skirt allows the lower portion of the skirt to be thinand at the 'same -time to slope inwardly to guide the cap into-place on the Container. The lower surface or" the thickened portion 9 of the gasket has a gentle slope since it leads into the already sloping lower gasket portion. This allows the thickened portion 9 to slide easily over the bead adjacent the container rim, such as bead l5 in Fig. 3.

The closure is more easily pried 01T the container with a ared closure as the lower edge 6 is spaced r utwardly from the usual fulcrum point of the prying instrument on the container shoulder or cover, thus giving leverage in the removal operation.

The flared shape of the skirt also tends to litt the thickened portion 9 of the gasket over the-bead 1S by bending outwardly when a pryinginstrument is used in the general location of instrumentv 13 of Fig. 3. This allows the gasket 3 to be usedv with a relatively deep groove lit) to hold theclosureirmly in place.

The closure shown in Fig. 5' differs from that shown in Figs. l through 3 by having` an annular enlargement E@ encircling the skirt portion 2. This enlargement strengthens the skirt and prevents twisting of the cap during application or removal and thus insures a good original it and a goodretit when the closure is re-sealed during use. This closure is also shown with the gasket portion 7a being limited to the peripheral Vportions of the cover l.

Another embodiment of` the invention is shown in Figs. 6fand 7. The closure differs from the one illustrated intl-lig. 2 primarily in the shape of the groove lita and the skirt 2a. The groove 10a is substantially channel-shaped. The skirt 2a has a generally cylindrical upper portion 2l and an outwardly flared portion 22 from about the middle downward.

While various types of containers may be sealed with the closure illustrated in Fig. 6 as well as with the other closures'illustrated herein, a preferred embodiment of a container 23 is shown in Fig. 7. The finish of container 123 is generally similar to the nish of the container M of Fig. 3. When the closure is applied to the nish, the groove'ltia embraces the bead 25 and the lower portion of the gasket 28 lits into the groove 26.

The' closure of Fig. 6 has the same advantages of the tlared skirt"'and groovedvgasket described above with 'relation tothe closure of Fig. 2. By having the upper portion" of the skirt vertical, this portion provides a -rmer support `for the upper portion of 'i gasket 3a and v"tends to provide a tighter ttin'g' closure than that of Fig.

2 when such a tight t is desired. At the same time, the ilared lower portion allows the closure to be relatively easily removed when desired and may be used in sealing machines with either stack or hopper feeds.

lt will be seen that the present closure provides a secure hermetic seal and at the same time is relatively easily applied and removed from the container. The closure is designed for ready handling and may be used on sealing machines utilizing either hopper or stack feeds. Due to the interlocking action of the bead on the container and the groove in the closure the closure goes on and comes oil withy a snap, which is a feature desired both by the packers and the users. The aring skirt allows the gasket to be thin and yet at the same time have a tapered shape to assist in `the sealing operation. The skirt also makes the closure easier to remove by increasing the leverage and by bending in such a direction as to raise the slot in the closure groove over the bead on the container. T he closure is easily manufactured, is simple in operation, and provides a secure hermetic seal for an indeiinite period of time.

As various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts herein without departing from the spirit-and scope of the invention and without sacrificing any of its advantages, it is to be understood that all matter herein is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

l. A hermetically sealed package comprising a glass container having a pair of rounded annular projections on the sidewall thereof adjacent the rim, one above the other, with an annular groove therebetween, a sheet metal closure cap comprising a top portion and a downwardly and outwardly depending skirt, a rubber compound bonded to the inner surface of the metal shell and forming an irnperforate covering over the entire inner walls of said top portion and depending skirt, said covering having its greatest thickness along the upper portion of the skirt for telescoping over and engaging the side wall of said container, the inner surface of the covering along the lower portion of the skirt Haring downwardly, said covering having an annular groove preformed in said upper portion adapted to embrace the upper annular enlargement on said container, the portion of the gasket forming the underside of the groove extending into the container groove and resting upon the upper side of the lower annular projection, thereby to hold the closure securely on the container and to form a hermetic seal therewith, and a lower edge portion of said skirt extending inwardly and upwardly about the lower edge portion of the covering enveloping and concealing said lower edge portion of the covering.

2. The package as defined in claim l wherein said downwardly and outwardly depending skirt is substantially frusto-conical.

3. The package as dened in claim 1 wherein said downwardly and outwardly depending skirt has a substantially cylindrical upper part and a flared lower part.

4. A sheet metal closure cap of the class described comprising a top portion and a downwardly and outwardly depending skirt, a rubber compound bonded to the inner surface of the metal shell and forming an imperforate covering over the entire inner walls of said top portion and depending skirt, said covering having its greatest thickness along the upper portion of the skirt for telescoping over and engaging the side wall of a container, the inner surface of the covering along the lower portion of the skirt Haring downwardly and outwardly toward the lower edge of the skirt, said covering having an annular groove preformed in said upper portion adapted to embrace an annular enlargement on said container, and a lower edge portion of said skirt extending inwardly and upwardly about the lower edge portion of the covering enveloping and concealing said lower Vedgeportion of the covering.

5. The closure cap as defined in claim 4 wherein said downwardly and outwardly depending skirt is substantially frusto-conical.

6. The closure cap as defined in claim 4 wherein said downwardly and outwardly depending skirt has a substantially cylindrical upper part and a flared lower part.

1,863,081 Bellows June 14, 1932 10 Moyer Aug. 28, 1928 6 Gibbs Nov. 15, 1938 Carvalho Nov. 28, 1939 Glocker Sept. 21, 1943 Turenne June 8, 1948 Gora Dec. 27, 1949 Iesnig Dec. 9, 1952 Foye Feb. 7, 1956 Rubin Apr. 10, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS Switzerland Sept. 16, 1932 France Mar. 14, 1949 

